Six historic sites across Britain have been awarded £47 million in funding by
the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to promote heritage tourism.

The Flax Mill Maltings, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, will receive the largest allocation of £12.8 million for its restoration. The historic complex of seven listed buildings from the 18th and 19th-centuries includes the Main Mill, the world's first iron-framed building. It will be open to the public by 2016.

The former hunting lodge of Henry VIII, a 15th-century medieval palace in Knole, Kent, will receive £7.75 million for repairs and new visitor facilities. The funds will also be used for the preservation of artefacts, including historic furniture from two Royal palaces, a solid silver table, state beds with hangings woven with gold thread, silver sequins and rare velvets, and an original 17th century Knole settee. Previously unseen rooms will be opened to the public afterwards.

Cumbria’s Windermere Steamboat Museum has been awarded £9.4 million to build a new museum on the edge of Lake Windemere, showcasing the Lake District's 200-year history of boat building, and also to provide training and apprenticeships.

Hampshire’s Winchester Cathedral, which houses six mortuary chests containing the bones of Anglo Saxon kings, will receive £10.5 million for conservation work and new exhibitions.

The Chester Farm, in Northamptonshire, which holds evidence of human activity dating back 10,000 years and a medieval farm complex of buildings from the 16th century, will receive £4 million. The project will include an archaeological resource centre and excavations to uncover the stories of the former residents of the site.

The Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery in Powys, which displays contemporary art and archaeological material from mid-Wales, will be given £2.5 million for its redevelopment.

The V&A in London, Middlesbrough Town Hall, Enniskillen Castle in Northern Ireland and John Wesley's New Room in Bristol have also been given some support to develop their bids for funding.

"This list is exciting because of the range of projects receiving funding - from industrial heritage in Shrewsbury to the great palace at Knole - but most inspiring of all is the funding going to the lesser known sites that simply can't open, or stay open, without it," said Sophie Campbell, Telegraph Travel's UK heritage columnist.

"Four sites have received funding just to help with their bids, which shows how complex the process is. I can understand why, but it makes it hard for small grassroots projects to benefit. I'd love to see more funding for county museums, for example, which can often seem old fashioned but don't have the money to develop," she added.

Heritage tourism is worth £26 billion a year to the British economy, according to the HLF.

"We know that heritage is a huge draw for visitors from home and abroad," said Carole Souter, chief executive of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

"More than a quarter of all UK holiday activities undertaken by UK residents now involve heritage. These projects all offer the public the chance to explore and enjoy our rich and complex history," she added.